Underneath it All
by coffeeluver212
Summary: It's Christmas in Stars Hollow but Rory can't make it home...So who's left to entertain Lorelai? (LL) Hooray for chapter 4!
1. Opportunity

**Summary: It's Christmas time in Stars Hollow. Unfortunately, Rory can't come home for Christmas. So who's left to entertain Lorelei? **

**Disclaimer: I wished I owned Gilmore Girls but I don't! There is no way in forever that I could've thought up such an incredible story as Gilmore Girls! So I must settle on fanfcs :sigh: I am, however, a GG ADDICT!**

**Chapter 1**

**Oppurtunity**

_The opportunity was there. Both windows were open. Finally. Whenever Lorelai had her window open before, Luke's was closed. When Luke's window was open, Lorelai's had always been shut. But it was different now. Jason was gone. Nicole was gone. Luke and Lorelai had both noticed how perfect the moment was, but neither wanted to admit it. Because they were both scared. They were scared of losing each other. Forever. But deep down, they both knew that if they didn't act now, they _would_ lose each other. Forever. So something had to be done….._

_**xxx**_

"This will kill you, y'know" Luke warned

"Well thanks for the consideration, mister" There was bitterness in Lorelai's voice.

Luke sighed and filled Lorelai's cup with steamy coffee. For the 3rd time. She didn't look up. Luke was about to say something about the long and painful death that a coffee lover would surely experience, but he quickly realized that she wasn't in the mood.

It pained Luke to see her sad like this. He didn't even know what caused her pain, but it made Lorelai sad so he didn't like it.

"Hey….um….Lorelai…."

Her head slowly started to rise.

"Luuuuuke! Could you fill our coffee cups, sweetheart?'

With one last glance at Lorelai (who was now staring back at her cup), Luke walked over to Miss. Patty and Babbette.

"She looks sad don't she suga?' Babbette asked as Luke filled her cup.

"Wha?" Luke mumbled

"Lorelai. She looks like she's not doin' too good." Babbette answered as if it were sooooo obvious.

"Do you know what's wrong?" Luke asked, a little too quickly, slightly revealing his concern.

"Nope, but you should ask her" Miss. Patty suggested.

"You're just about the only one in this whole town who can get her to open up." Babbette added

Luke pretended to role his eyes while he secretly glanced at Lorelai, still in the same position.

He left Patty and Babbette in their fit of giggles.

Slowly and quietly, Luke approached Lorelai. He slowly opened his mouth. "Hey-"

"Sure, thanks."

Luke stared at Lorelai blankly ad he realized that she thought he was just asking her if she wanted more coffee. He half-heartedly filled her mug.

"You're welcome." He practically stumbled over his thoughts of her thoughts.

A half an hour and two silent cups of coffee later, Lorelai still hadn't budged. The bells over the door rang quietly as Miss. Patty and Babbette left. Miss. Patty looked at Luke and then looked at Lorelai, Babbette winked.

'_God'_ Luke thought '_I know I must be desperate when I need the town gossipers_** (A/N is 'gossipers' a word?) **_to budge me along.'_

When he was sure the two "gossipers" were far out of sight, he walked over to Lorelai again. "Um, Lorelai?"

Her eyes shot up. "Oh my gosh, its closing time, isn't it? Ah, I'm sorry Luke. I was just…I'm sorry. I'll leave right now. Uh, could I have one more cup of coffee to go? Please, Luke? I have some work to do late tonight, and coffee would really help…." She thought that maybe if she never stopped talking, no one would notice her sadness.

Her rambling acts never fooled Luke. "No sit down. I don't close for another hour" He refilled her cup with coffee as she sat.

"Uh, is something wrong? I mean, uh, is everything OK?" Luke's questioned lingered in the air. For a second, he thought she might actually answer truthfully. Lorelai thought so too. Then reality hit her and she went off.

"Me? No! 'Course not silly! I'm just my average, perky, happy self!" She waved her hands in the air.

Luke's voice softened. "No, Lorelai, something's wrong. I know it."

Lorelai could feel tears stinging in her eyes. "Um, it's just that Christmas is only in 5 days…" Her voice trailed off.

"And?" He gently encouraged.

Her breath quivered. "And Rory and I always, always, always spend Christmas together." She flinched when she said 'together' "But this year, there's this big Yale Christmasy party and Rory really, really wanted to go, so I told her to go and not worry about me. So, she's not gonna be here. And today, Sookie told me that she and Jackson are going out of town, and even Michel's going back to France for the holidays…so anyway I was just realizing that my baby's growing up an I really, truly am going to become some sad old lady that has to spend all Christmas…all….alone" Just as she did when she said together, Lorelai flinched when she said 'alone'.

Her blue eyes were glossy with tears. Luke moved his hand slowly to grab hers. His hand hovered inches above hers until he quickly pulled it back.

"Plus," Lorelai continued "My parents aren't in town so they won't be having their annual Christmas party, so I guess I really won't have anything to pre –occupy me."

'_Don't cry, Lorelai, please don't cry'_ Lorelai silently begged herself.

A fat tear rolled down her cheek.

'_DON'T CRY'_

Luke reached over and tenderly brushed the tear off her cheek.

"God, look at me, I'm a wreck. I'm sitting here crying just because Rory won't be home for Christmas. I'm such an idiot"

"You're not an idiot, Lorelai. It's…..okay" Luke said, trying his best to be comforting.

Lorelai's shoulders shuddered.

"Hey, um, Liz and TJ are going to this big, like, Christmas festival on Christmas. Y'know, I don't have any plans either, so I guess I was gonna…..and, um" Luke shifted a little "And you're welcome to come with, if it's not too much trouble. Luke decided not to mention that Liz had even said "oh and you should get Lorelai to come too."

Lorelai looked up at him, her eyes still a little glazed.

"I mean, you don't have to come if you don't wanna. I was just suggesting. It's outside so it's probably going to be pretty cold, but according to Liz, there's supposed to be, like, a lot of stuff to do…." For the first time in his life, Luke Danes found himself rambling.

'Oh, really?" Lorelai's eyes brightened up. "I'd love to go, thanks Luke."

"Um, sure." Luke smiled "It starts at 3:30, and it's like in Hartford or somewhere like that, so I could pick you up at like, 3-ish."

"Yeah, that'd be great!" Lorelai smiled and then glanced at the clock. "Oh, I should go….I really do have to a lot of work to do tonight so…"

"Here," Luke handed her a cup of coffee to go.

"Thanks, Luke. See ya!"

"Bye."

As Lorelai left the diner, they both felt relieved. Lorelai was relieved that she'd have something to do on Christmas. Luke was relived that she'd actually said yes, and he'd get to spend Christmas with Lorelai Gilmore.

TBC

**Well there's chapter 1 for ya! Reviews are appreciated! Oh and by the way, some of the events in this story may have already happened, I just twisted them to fit my plot! Thanks for understanding! My story is a little messed up right now. I uploaded a 2nd chapter but then it didn't show the first one! So I deleated the story, but now I'm putting it up again! I just really hope it works...**


	2. She Loved

**So here's chapter 2! Thank you guys sooooo much for the reviews! When I first checked them, I was so scared that they would be nothing but criticism! But they weren't! They were all good! This is my first FF but I've read a bunch of others and I'm always thinking _'jeeze, why do these people flip out over the reviews that they get?'_ but now I know why! Oh, and thanks a lot for help on the word "gossips"! I didn't think that you guys would actually help me on that so now I am kind of embarrassed (omg, I'm even blushing a little!) but anyway, I should get on with the story…..(oh and yes, I might raise the rating if juicy stuff comes along, but that won't happen for a few chapters )**

**Chapter 2**

**She Loved…**

The next 4 days passed in a surreal blur. Christmas was always a festive holiday in Stars Hollow. Miss. Patty had her dance students rehearse for their Christmas recital, Kirk (in a desperate attempt to be "festive") annoyed everyone more then normal, and, once again, Taylor Doose a tried to get Luke to decorate the diner.

"Please Luke-"

"No! And I'm not saying it again!"

"But this place looks so…un-Christmas like! It'd only be for one single day! For god's sake, it's Christmas Eve! Christmas is about decorating! It's about celebrating! It's about tradition-"

"And my tradition is that I'll never decorate this place! EVER!"

"Luke,"

"Besides, Christmas isn't about Santa Clause and all that cheesy, commercial stuff! That's all fake! Christmas is really supposed to be about-"

The doorbells jingled as Lorelai entered for her daily afternoon coffee.

"About what, Luke?" Taylor pestered.

"Goodbye, Taylor," Luke mumbled.

"But,"

"Goodbye, Taylor," Luke said, slightly raising his voice.

"Oh, sure! Drop everything and run to Lorelai the second she steps foot in…"

Luke ignored him and started to walk over to where Lorelai was draping her coat over the chair and sitting down at her usual table. It was hers and_ Rory's_ usual table, as Luke observed.

"Do I even want to try to prevent you from rotting out you insides?"

"Not unless you are willing to accept, once and for all, that coffee will actually make me live longer then I would without it!" Lorelai played back, pretending to be all dramatic.

"Or, you could accept that tea is-"

"The worst substance on earth? Gladly!" Lorelai flashed Luke a smile. The smile that made his body go entirely weak. Luke poured her a fresh cup of coffee. Their eyes met.

'_Wow' _Lorelai thought_ 'Have Luke's eyes always looked so…so…blue?' _Lorelai had to glance away, because if she didn't, she might get eternally lost in that sea of blue.

Luke was glad that inviting Lorelai to spend Christmas with him had really made her cheer up. But deep down, in a place where only Luke could really see, there was still a hint of sadness. Luke waged an inner battle on whether or not to bring up the subject to remind her that she wasn't alone, or if bringing it up would only hurt her even more. Luke eventually left her to help with the other customers.

Lorelai silently sipped her coffee. She had originally expected that sitting in Luke's, alone with her own thoughts, would only make her hurt more. But as she sat in Luke's Diner, she surprisingly found herself thinking about how much she loved this place. She loved the coffee. She loved the food. She loved the homeliness it had. She loved-

Lorelai's cell phone range, disrupting her thoughts. Luke noticed but didn't have the heart to point out the 'no cell phones allowed' sign.

"Uh-huh…..ok…..I'll be right there." Luke heard her say. She got Christmas off, but today, she still to do a few last minute things at the inn.

"Luke! I, uh, have to go." She called.

" 'Kay…..so I guess I'll see you tomorrow…around 3-ish?"

"Great!...and, um, Luke?'

"Mmm-hmm?"

"I really can't thank you enough for doing this for me…" Lorelai smiled shyly.

"You mean for clearing your plate?" Luke questioned.

"No! You know what I mean!" Lorelai's smile was large and apparent now. Luke liked it. He smiled back.

"Bye, Lorelai."

"Bye!"

_xxx_

The sun shone brightly through Lorelai's window. It was winter, but it still was a sunny day. Lorelai blinked and through drowsy eyes looked over at her Hello Kitty calendar which read: **HELLO December 25th! **

The word 'CHRISTMAS' instantly popped into Lorelai's head.

"RORY WAKE UP ITS CHRI-"

Rory. Reality hit Lorelai like a big, yellow, school bus. Rory wasn't here. Rory was a Yale. Lorelai wouldn't see Rory until the 28th.

But she could still talk to her. Lorelai sat up in bed and reached for the phone, which started ringing the instant, Lorelai touched it.

"Hello?" Lorelai answered.

"Mom!" Rory cried into the phone.

"Hey! I was just picking up the phone to call you!"

"You know what that means…" Rory put on a mysterious voice.

"You can dial a phone number faster then me?" Lorelai asked in a sleepy voice.

"No! We must be psychic!"

"Oh! Like gypsies!"

"We should start one of those fortune telling booths!"

"And have tons of costumers!"

"Yeah, and be world famous!"

"And make lots of money!"

"And spend lots of money!"

The possibilities went on and on until they both forgot what had started the conversation in the first place.

"So, anyway, Merry Christmas, Mom."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Hon."

"I'm really sorry I'm not there"

"Don't be," Lorelai hesitated before adding "Besides, I have plans for today."

"But I thought Sookie was out of town…"

"Oh, yeah, right, I couldn't possibly have plans because Sookie, my only friend in the whole stupid world is out of town!" Lorelai sarcastically said.

"Oops, sorry! So what are your plans?'

"I'm going to this kind of festival-like thing with Luke. Liz and TJ are going too." Lorelai wasn't exactly sure why she'd added the part about Liz and TJ so hastily. Was it to tone down the fact that she was going with….Luke?

"Oh, with Luke?" Rory asked, ignoring Liz and TJ. "Is this like a date?' Rory's voice was extremely bubbly.

"No, its not." Lorelai said, imitating Rory's perky tone.

"Sure," Rory said, slightly sarcastically, "But that is really sweet of Luke to do something to cheer you up on Christmas."

"Yeah. It is pretty nice of him." Lorelai found herself smiling uncontrollably.

The two of them talked for about a half an hour until Rory had to go. Next, Lorelai ambled down stairs and made herself a cup of coffee. She watched some TV Christmas specials. More coffee. More TV. Sookie called, which gave Lorelai a little feeling of Christmas happiness. Unfortunately, Sookie couldn't talk long, so Lorelai went back to her Christmas morning. More TV. More coffee.

She decided to get dressed (she was still in her pajamas) at one 'o'clock. Even though Luke wouldn't be there until three, she wanted to do something to remind herself that she was doing_ something_ for Christmas. She pulled on her jeans very slowly, just to waste time. She also put on a red sweater over a tee-shirt. She went downstairs and sat on the couch for a bit. Lorelai glanced at the clock. 1:27. "Go faster!" Lorelai moaned at the clock. She went back upstairs and curled her hair with Rory's curling iron. Back downstairs. 1:59. Lorelai put on her coat, hat, scarf and gloves. She didn't need them now but she would because the festival was outside. Back downstairs. 2:11.

Lorelai knew that time seemed to slow down when you were anxiously awaiting something, but what was anxiously awaiting? Seeing Luke? She saw Luke every single day, so this wasn't any different, right? Lorelai looked at the clock. It was only 2:14 now.

Lorelai went upstairs again. This time to do her make-up. She applied her make-up just like she always did, but she felt that she looked kind of plain.

'_Am I trying to look prettier just because I'm going on a date with Luke?'_

Lorelai dropped her mascara. Did she just say date? Well, technically, she didn't say it, she had thought it, but all the same, she had used the word 'date'.

'_This is just a friendly….well what was it exactly? Well, it wasn't a date, that's for sure!'_

Lorelai told herself over and over again that it wasn't a date. Each time she said it though, it sounded less and less true.

Slightly annoyed at herself and her weird thoughts, Lorelai went back downstairs, sat on the couch, and tapped her foot anxiously until there was a knock on the door at precisely 3:01.

Lorelai sighed and slowly stood up. As she walked to get the door, she felt a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. Even though she regretted it, Lorelai knew exactly what the feeling was. It was the feeling you get right before a first date.

TBC!

**Please review, since now I'm such a big fan of your comments! I'm sick today so I might even update the next chapter now, since I have so much time on my hands! Yay for sickness! Well, actually, not total YAY for sickness because it sucks. My friend, who I probably caught it from, now has PNEUMONIA! I really don't want pneumonia! So yay for you, boo for me! I'll try to update soon.**


	3. Christmas Festivities

**Hey! Me again! Sorry about the chapters, I know that they kind of confused some of you! I can't really explain what happened (because I don't really know my self) but its all ok now so just bear with me! I am also totally sorry that I didn't update sooner! I went to Europe for two weeks and I couldn't update there. I had my friend update for me but her mom (who is REALLY strict) found out and then wouldn't let her finish typing it. I know, her mom is kinda weird like that. My friend even told me that I could write here that it was all her fault, but it's not really so just accept my apology and appreciate my newly updated chapter 3!**

**Chapter 3**

**Christmas Festivities**

**

* * *

**

'_Okay, clam down'._ Lorelai pressed her hand over her heart as an attempt to slow her rapid heartbeat. Slowly, she opened the door. There stood Luke. Plain old Luke. To Lorelai's relief, he looked the same as he always did. Then Lorelai tried to figure out what she had expected. An elephant?

"Hi, Luke!" Lorelai grinned.

"Hi, uh, Merry Christmas!" Luke smiled back at her.

"Merry Christmas."

There was an awkward silence as the two of them stared at each other.

'_Why is he looking at me like that?'_

'_Why can't I stop looking at her like that?'_

Finally, Luke said, "So, should we get going?"

Lorelai wanted to yell 'Dirty!' but instead she nodded and said "Sure!"

They walked down the steps in silence. As they climbed into Luke's truck, Lorelai asked "So where is this thing, again?"

"Well it's, like, it's a little bit father then half way to Hartford, so it should take about 30, 40 minutes to get there." Luke gestured to the directions that Liz had given him.

"Oh, ok."

The truck pulled out of the driveway.

"Hey, um, here," Luke handed Lorelai a little white box with a red ribbon on it. Lorelai slowly took the box. She almost blushed when their hands gently brushed pass one another. Lorelai honestly didn't know what to say, so instead she made little questioning hum.

"Well, you know, I didn't want you to go completely present-less or anything on Christmas, so…"

Lorelai smiled. She opened the box. Inside was a necklace with three glimmering diamonds on it. The middle diamond was pink and the two bordering ones were white. Lorelai's jaw literally dropped. Luke could see the diamonds reflecting in her eyes, giving her eyes a more then usual sparkle.

"God, Luke, this is so beautiful…"

"Uh, yeah, well, I don't really know how to pick out jewelry, but I guess, it looked kind of Lorelai-ish."

"It's totally Lorelai-ish!" Lorelai laughed slightly, still in awe that Luke had bought her such a pretty necklace. She fastened it around her neck, and then she turned to Luke.

'Thank you so much!"

"Ah, don't mention it."

Lorelai went on smiling for another moment. Luke couldn't help but smile back. All of a sudden, a look of terror washed over Lorelai's face.

"OH MY GOD!" she yelled.

"What?" Luke slammed on the brakes, thinking there was a deer or something in the road. The scared look on her face turned into sadness,

"I'm so sorry Luke! I really must be the worst person in the world-"

"What? No, you're no-"

"I totally forgot to get _you_ something for Christmas, I can't believe myself, I mean, I didn't even think about it. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sor-'

"Lorelai, it's ok." Luke interrupted her apologies.

"No it's not! You got me this really nice necklace and I didn't even get you a Christmas present. Um…Oh I know! We can stop on the way and I'll buy you something. You can pick it out and then I will buy it. Wait, then I wouldn't get a chance to wrap it…"

"Lorelai," Luke said firmly. "You really don't have to get me anything, ok? Your gift to me can be just coming to this stupid thing. It probably would've been pretty boring, but if you're there, it will be a little more…interesting. I mean, at least now I'll have someone to talk to.'

"Fine…but I'm still gonna buy you something." Said Lorelai.

"But-'

"Nope. I don't even want to hear it. You, mister, are going to get a gift from me whether you like it or not. It's just going to be a little late, that's all."

"Fine," Luke knew that there was no use trying to reason with Lorelai Gilmore. They were both quiet for a few seconds until Lorelai mumbled, in a kind of pouty voice "In Spain, they don't even exchange gifts January 5th, so there."

Luke had to laugh at that. "You're crazy."

"Thanks," Lorelai laughed a little bit too.

For the rest of the car ride, Luke and Lorelai were both silent. But it wasn't that 'What-should-I-say?' type of awkward silence. It was that 'I-wish-this-moment-would-never-end' type of peaceful silence.

xxx

They got to the festival at around 3:35. It was kind of out in the woods. To Luke's surprise, there were actually a lot of people there and so it was really hard to find parking. They ended up parking way in the back.

"Are you sure we'll be able to find the truck? It's far back here. We could get lost in the woods." Lorelai loved making everything so dramatic around Luke.

"We'll find it," Luke grumbled.

"But maybe we should put a big, flashing, red sign on top of it! Or you could just stand on top of, jumping up and down the whole night! Or-"

"Lorelai,'

"Fine, fine, fine," Lorelai gave up.

After they wove through the pack of cars, they came to an entrance with a large sign that said: RENISANCE CHRISTMAS FAIR.

"Renisance?" Luke exclaimed, "my sister didn't say anything about it being a renisance thing!"

"Well, I guess it is Liz and TJ, you know? They're totally into the whole medieval thing…" Lorelai suggested.

"LUKE!"

Luke and Lorelai turned to see Liz running towards them.

"Hey Luke! Merry Christmas!" Liz hugged him.

"Merry Christmas!" Luke said back.

"How are you?"

"Oh me? I'm…good."

"Uh-huh," Liz smiled. She turned to look at Lorelai. Lorelai noticed the genuine look of surprise on her face. "Lorelai! You came too!"

"Yes, I did," Lorelai smiled in response.

"Well, that's great! So…" Liz started in on her questioning voice. "Why exactly are you spending Christmas with my brother? Nothing better to do?" Of course, Liz had meant her comment as a pure joke, but she quickly realized that it hurt Lorelai, though Liz couldn't figure out why.

"Oh, well, um…" Lorelai began.

Liz desperately looked to Luke for help. Luke gave her the 'change the subject eyes'.

"Right, um, never mind," Liz glanced around, trying to think of something to say to change the dangerously awkward subject. Her eyes fell on Lorelai's diamond necklace. "Oh my gosh, Lorelai, I love you necklace! Where did you get it?"

'_Oh great! An even worse topic!'_ Lorelai thought. "My necklace? I, uh,……" If she said Luke gave it to her, it would look suspiciously boyfriend/girlfriend-like. If she lied about it, Luke might get mad or think it weird of her.

"Liz! Luke!" TJ's voice interrupted them.

"TJ!" Luke and Liz called, happy to have a distraction.

"Hi Luke, and…" TJ looked to Lorelai "Lorelai! You too?"

"Yep!" Lorelai could tell her smile looked kind of fake. The four of them talked for a while until eventually Liz said "Well, I guess we'll see you around!" Then Liz and TJ turned and left. Luke and Liz stared in silence for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry she said that. About you not having anything better to do." Luke apologized.

"Hey don't say sorry, it's not like she could've known or anything."

"I guess," Luke quietly agreed. " You sure that you're OK with everything?"

"Yeah. It's weird, but, I'm actually totally fine." Luke didn't look to assured.

"Really!" Lorelai protested and flashed Luke her famous 'Lorelai' smile. Luke hardly had any choice but to smile back.

'_Crap' _Lorelai thought '_Now I'm stuck smiling at the way Luke smiles and I can't stop! Jeeze! Why does this always _happen_?'_

Luke was thinking the exact same thing.

"So let's go!" Lorelai said, abruptly. She turned and walked away in her jumpy sort of way. Luke followed.

Though, of course, he would never admit it, Luke found medieval Christmas festivities to be fun. There were a bunch of little performances to watch, food to eat, and weird little booths to buy trinkets at. Lorelai (being Lorelai) loved every second of it. As she was practically twirling around in the mix of knights and kings and queens and castles, she spotted a face painting center.

"Oooooh, Luke!" she squealed "I wanna get my face painted!"

"Lorelai, that's for three year olds."

"Look around! There are no three year olds here! That means the painting lady has no customers. Just think of this as a charity act! Besides, I take face painting to a whole new level of cuteness. A level that a 3 year old could _never_ accomplish!"

"Lorelai-"

"You know what your problem is? You have way too much pride." Lorelai teased.

"And you don't even have enough of it."

"And that's why I'm here today!" Lorelai said as she walked towards the booth.

"Just don't get your face painted like Spiderman or anything!" Luke called after her.

"Oh, how I wish I could promise you that." Lorelai called back, just to freak him out.

Ten minutes later, Lorelai appeared with yellow stars dotted on her cheeks like freckles. Luke couldn't believe she'd actually done it. He tried not to notice, but he did think she looked strikingly cute.

"Wow, um, stars work for you." Luke tried to sound sarcastic but his tone came out a little more complementary then he'd expected.

"I think so too. And, apparently, so does the drunken knight who practically mauled me on my way back here."

"Mauled you?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Kidding, Mr. Literal." Lorelai laughed.

They spotted Liz and TJ coming towards them.

"Whoa, Lorelai, why do you have stars painted on your face?" Liz asked.

"Oh well, I was attacked by a crazy king with a paintbrush." Giggled Lorelai.

Liz and TJ blinked.

"Ooookay. Apparently I can't make jokes with your family." Lorelai whispered to Luke. Luke glanced at her as if to say 'apparently'.

"So what are you two up to next?" Luke asked Liz and TJ.

"Oh we were about to go on this sleigh ride……" Before Luke could stop and think, he and Lorelai were agreeing to go on the sleigh ride too. It wasn't until they got there that they realized it was only a two person to a sleigh, sleigh ride. Luke and Lorelai climbed into the carriage behind Liz and TJ's, trying as hard as humanly possible to ignore the awkwardness of it all. They would have to ignore it, or else it would be a _long_ sleigh ride. As it turned out, the ride was about _40 minutes_ through the woods. As the horse, leading Luke and Lorelai's carriage, started to move, Lorelai felt a snowflake land on her cheek.

"Snow!" Lorelai cried excitedly, "I absolutely _love_ the snow!"

'Yeah, I know.' Luke said.

"Oh right, of course." Lorelai thought about how Luke knew all of her little joys. But, that was just because they were friends, right?

They talked normally for a bit until they both fell into silence. Up ahead of them a little, they could see Liz and TJ. Liz was hugging TJ's waist and he had his arm around her. Lorelai noticed that the couple behind them was tightly cuddled together too. She realized that Luke had seen the couples as well. Lorelai glanced over at Luke. He was staring at her form the corner of his eye. They both quickly looked away from each other. The awkward side stares kept coming back, though. There was nothing they could do. Luke kept wanting to look at Lorelai, and Lorelai (though she had no idea why) kept wanting to look at Luke.

Very slowly (and I mean VERY slowly) Luke scooted closer to Lorelai. He kind of moved his shoulder, almost as if he were offering it to her. Cautiously, Lorelai placed her head on his shoulder. Both sparks _and_ shivers shot through each of them. The awkwardness slowly subsided and Lorelai cuddled in a little closer to Luke.

Luke let his head gently fall on top of hers as he took in the delicious scent of her hair. He had never felt more comfortable.

Lorelai closed her eyes. She enjoyed every part of this. From the cold snow falling peacefully on her face, to the warm feel of Luke's body underneath her.

Within minutes, they had fallen fast asleep.

TBC!

**Wow, that was a long chapter (at least I think so)! But it was all worth it since Luke and Lorelai are so cute! And I am totally sorry about the whole Europe thing. My soccer season and my track season have both started up again so I won't have as much time as I would like to have to update but I promise that new chapters will be posted much more regularly then they have been. Thanks for reading, stay posted, and review like CRAZY! Hee hee!**


	4. Sexy Feet

**Thanks for the reviews! I HEART all of you guys! Nothing life threatening or altering has happened in my life recently that I feel like I _must_ post so I'll just get on with the story (most of you are thinking '_thank god!'_) And now our feature presentation: the next chapter!**

**Chapter 4**

**Sexy Feet**

There was a blanket of snow covering Luke and Lorelai when they finally woke up. Luke came into consciousness first. The first thing he noticed was the soft, brown hair that his face was nestled in. All of a sudden, he realized whose hair it was. Lorelai's! Lorelai Gilmore was sleeping on his shoulder! She looked so peaceful, all snuggled up to him. A few snowflakes had frozen onto her long eyelashes. Luke wasn't sure if her perfect skin was sparkling or if she just had stars painted on her face.

Up ahead of them, Luke could see the festival. But something was different. No one was there. A few people were cleaning up, but other then that, the area was empty. Another thing was missing: Liz and TJ's sleigh up ahead.

"Um…Excuse me….where is everyone?" Luke asked the driver of their carriage.

"Well, we're closing up" the man answered. "The couple ahead of us asked me to take you two around the route another time…"

"Oh, right, thanks" Luke mumbled as the carriage came to a stop. As much as he hated to wake Lorelai, cuddled deeply into his arm, he could tell he couldn't persuade the already aggravated driver to do the route one more time. Luke gently leaned down until he was at her level.

"Lorelai," he gently whispered "You kind of, have to wake up."

Lorelai felt someone's warm breath on her face. She stirred. She opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times. "Hmm?" She lifted her head off Luke's shoulder. Luke had to clench his fist to keep his arm from automatically going around her and bringing her back to him. Lorelai raised her head a little more so that she could face Luke. "Did I fall asleep?" she asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah. We both dd." Luke mumbled.

Lorelai looked around.

"Where are Liz and TJ? Where's everyone else?"

"Gone. They all went home."

"While we were asleep?'

"I guess so."

Luke and Lorelai climbed out of the sleigh and made their way through the empty fair ground to the parking lot.

"Now, where'd we park again?" Luke looked around. Lorelai gasped in a playful, sort of dramatic way. "We're lost!" she squealed.

"We aren't lost, Lorelai,"

"I told ya we wouldn't be able to find your truck!" Lorelai giggled uncontrollably. Luke wasn't sure why she thought this whole thing was so funny, but then again, he didn't understand any of her wild thoughts.

They wondered around the parking lot for almost 20 minutes. The entire time, Lorelai was cracking herself up with her weird jokes about lost trucks. Luke was glad it was dark outside, so Lorelai couldn't see the amused look on his face. Luke had always liked how Lorelai could disport and entertain herself for hours on end. Plus, he liked her laugh.

Finally, they came upon the truck. Or what they thought was the truck anyway. It was more like a big pile of snow then anything that resembled a truck. After they brushed a lot of the snow off, Luke still couldn't get the doors open, they were practically frozen shut. In fact, the passenger side door wouldn't open. Lorelai had to climb in through Luke's side of the truck. Once they were settled in, Luke put the keys in the ignition and turned them. The engine made a weird, grumbling sound, and then fell silent.

"Ummmm…" Luke began.

"Um?' Lorelai raised an eyebrow.

"I think the engine might be frozen."

"Frozen?" Lorelai laughed nervously.

"It's possible…." Luke sighed.

"Ok, um, so should we just wait in here until morning or something?" Lorelai suggested.

Luke was silent and just looked ahead.

"Luke?"

"The snow doesn't look like it's letting up Lorelai, if we stay here; we have a very high risk of getting snowed in and stuck in this truck. This place _is_ kind of in the middle of no where and we _did_ park way in the back…."

"So they might not find us?"

"I'm just saying it's a possibility."

Lorelai got out her cell phone and pressed a few buttons.

"Out of service," she whispered. They were both quiet for a moment.

"So what do we do now?" Lorelai nervously asked. "Walk back to Stars Hollow?"

"We may have to." Luke's voice was emotionless.

"Oh." Lorelai mumbled. Wondering if they should take their chances or not. Finally, Luke said "If we are going to walk back…"

"We should probably go….." Lorelai added.

"Now."

"Or else we could get stuck here."

"So we really should go."

"Now."

Still they didn't move. "Now." Lorelai quietly breathed.

"Yeah."

Luke pushed his door open and stepped out into the cold. Lorelai climbed over his seat to get out. They stood next to the car, taking in the fact that they were going to walk back to Stars Hollow. "Well, let's go." Luke said plainly. He took a step forward. "Ah, wait" Lorelai took a piece of paper out of her purse and scribbled on it '_Please call if found'_ then she wrote the number of Luke's diner. She placed the paper inside, on the trucks dash board.

"Oh, yeah. Good idea." Luke muttered, a little embarrassed that he hadn't thought to leave a note.

"I'm full of them" Lorelai beamed.

Luke laughed a little and then the two of them set off through the snowy parking lot. They were able to find the exit much quicker this time, which deposited them on the highway.

"If we just stay on this road, it should lead us straight home." Luke announced. Lorelai nodded in acknowledgement.

There was a minor amount of talk between the two, as they walked down the ribbon of silent highway. Mostly, they were just perplexed at the snow. It was falling heavily, true, but it also fell peacefully. There was no wind to blow it around messily, so the flakes fell in perfect straight lines. They both wondered how something that was dropping so hard could fall so daintily.

Unfortunately, peacefulness doesn't last forever.

'Ar ar arooooo!' the howl of a wolf echoed all around them. Lorelai froze. Luke, not really bothered by the noise, continued walking a little bit more, until he realized her absence next to him. He turned to look at her. She took a few steps forward to catch up to him and smiled a very nervous smile. Luke took her actions as a joke, like she thought if she acted scared, then he would get all freaked out. She couldn't fool him. He decided to play along. All of a sudden, he jumped and yelled "AHHH!"

He misjudged.

His quick movement caused her to yelp, squeeze her eyelids tightly together, grab him, and burry her terrified face into the side of his chest. Luke couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Lorelai, it was just a joke."

She moved her face a way from him a few inches so that she could see his face.

"Luuuuke," she whined. "That was mean! I was so afraid that…."

"That, what?" Luke prompted, slightly confused.

"Um, just that…I was scared that a wolf got you or something happened to you…..and that would mean that I'd never get to see you again."

Luke felt terrible that he'd scared her so badly, but he also felt a twinge of happiness to know that she cared so much about him.

"I'm sorry'" he apologized sincerely, "but I'm not going anywhere."

Lorelai brought her large eyes up to meet Luke's. "Promise?"

"Promise." He stated.

A small sigh of relief escaped Lorelai's lips as they continued walking. It felt so natural that neither one of them fully realized that Lorelai still clung to Luke like a barnacle hugging a rock. They both simply enjoyed each others presence.

"Brrrr," Lorelai shivered a little farther down the road.

"Cold?" Luke looked down at her small body.

"No!" Lorelai declared and stuck out her lower lip. "Yes." She revised. Luke eased his arm around her and pulled her close. He quickly rubbed his arm up and down her arm, trying to create enough friction to warm her up.

"Hmm." She sighed and leaned into his body. In no time, she quickly started to feel warmer. Luke's fast motions on her arm slowly became less fast and gentler. Soon, his hand stopped moving until the point where he simply had his arm around her, his thumb gently caressing her shoulder. Lorelai felt so calm and relaxed that her feet switched into auto-drive and her eyes closed. She wasn't asleep, because her body was still moving, but she was in the next closest thing to a sleep state.

Luke led her along as the snow fell all around them. He wanted this moment to last forever. He memorized every tiny detail. Her smell. The curves of her body. How the two of them fit together like a puzzle. Her sweet breath blowing lightly on his chest. The softer then soft fabric of her coat. In fact, he was so caught up wondering how she could be so cold but her body, against his, could feel so warm to him, he hardly noticed that she was limping.

He eventually noticed that something was wrong when her steps became so uneven that she was practically falling over. He looked down and instantly knew the problem. Now Luke Danes isn't into fashion. Luke is to clothes as a nuclear holocaust is to a bunny rabbit. They're the exact opposite. **(A/N: of course, we all think the lumberjack look is dead sexy, but he_ does_ where it every day.)** But it doesn't take a fashion guru to hit Lorelai's problem, dead on.

She was wearing a girls' best friend/ worst nightmare.

High heels.

"Lorelai, I know whole walking thing was a little unexpected-"

"A little?"

"But why'd you wear _those _shoes."

"Shhhh," Lorelai still hadn't opened her eyes.

"What?" Luke asked, unsure why he was being shushed by a half asleep Lorelai.

"Maybe if you don't say anything, then I can drown out the fact that I'm wearing

'a-good-idea-at-the-time' shoes, and by doing so, it might make the pain go away." She retaliated.

After a few more steps Luke sighed "Ok, Lorelai, take off the shoes."

"Mmm-mm" No way! My feet would freeze off!" She pushed her head closer to Luke, absorbing his body warmth, and reminding him of the current weather conditions.

"Uh, I guess you could wear my shoes if you want." Luke knew it sounded weird, but it seemed better then letting her walk home in heels.

"Won't _your_ feet freeze off?"

"Uh,no, I,um, have…hard feet." The second he said it, Luke wanted to slap himself. _'Hard feet?'_

Lorelai's eye lashes slowly fluttered open now.

"Hard feet?" She tried as best as she could to keep a straight face.

"Do you want the shoes or not?"

Lorelai rotated her heel a little bit. "Anything's better then these."

Luke slipped off his shoes and Lorelai did the same. Luke picked up her shoes and placed his in front of her. Lorelai slipped her feet into Luke's lumberjack boots.

"Comfy," Lorelai said, wiggling her toes around.

Her feet slid around in his large shoes. It was hard to walk without stepping out of them, so walking took a little more concentration. His shoes felt like puffy clouds to her blistered feet.

Her eyes closed again and her head fell back onto Luke's chest. He smiled and let his arm resume its original position, protectively around her.

They continued walking back to Stars Hollow.

XXX

_5:00 A.M._ That was the time Luke and Lorelai returned to Stars Hollow. _5:00 A.M._ Luke walked her home because he knew that if he left her and went back to his house, she would probably curl up on the sidewalk and fall asleep. Luke guided her up the stairs of her house, up to her room. He pulled back the sheets and helped her get in her bed. She pulled the covers up to her chin. Luke brushed a stray hair behind her ear.

When he was sure she was sound asleep, Luke turned and started to walk out the door. He stopped when he heard her voice call his name.

"Luke?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"This was really fun."

"Yeah. Yeah it was."

She smiled a little. "Thank you." It was the sincerest thank you that had ever passed out of her lips.

"You're welcome."

Luke stole one last glance at her before she rolled over and buried her head into the pillow.

Luke could here her muffled voice as he closed the door.

"Heh heh." She giggled. "Hard feet. That's sexy."

TBC!

**So how'd you guys like chapter 4? _Foot_ (hehe) note: No, switching shoes isn't some, crazy dating ritual in my family or anything. The story behind the shoe switch is this: I SUCK at coming up with names for chapters and I don't like just saying 'chapter1, chapter 2, chapter3 etc'. So anyways, when the shoe switch idea popped into my head, I thought 'hey, 'sexy feet' is a good chapter title. It's creative, it's funny, and it catches your attention!' and I just decided to go with it. So anyway, if you thought it was a sucky idea, mention it in a REVIEW! (I totally love reviews, even if they're mean!) Stay tuned and look for chapter 5, coming soon to a website near you!**


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